when they depend upon their own resources and can employ force, they seldom fail. Hence it comes that all armed Prophets have been victorious, and al… - Niccolò Machiavelli

Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed.

One should never fall in the belief that you can find someone to pick you up.

I say, then, that hereditary States, accustomed to the family of their Prince, are maintained with far less difficulty than new States, since all that is required is that the Prince shall not depart from the usages of his ancestors, trusting for the rest to deal with events as they arise.

A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it.